Scandalized and politicized, the departing Congress won't be missed

THE "PEOPLE'S BUSINESS," AS the work of the U.S. Congress is often called, began on a note of high drama back in January 1991, when members of the 102nd class of representatives debated the wisdom of going to war in the Persian Gulf. How quickly they fell. From the sordid hearings concerning the sexual proclivities of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to bounced checks at the House Bank and mismanagement at the House Post Office, this Congress thereafter rarely contrived to escape the mire of its own making. And when on occasion it did, its effectiveness was usually blunted by political...